Ploy revealed concerning

U.S. Constitution

Dec. 14, 2017

The U.S. Constitution has once again become the target of an insidious concerted attack by advocates of a modern constitutional convention. This well-funded campaign is deceptively capitalizing on legitimate conservatives to stampede state legislators into calling for a disastrous constitutional convention under Article V of the Constitution.

The first constitutional convention took us from the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution of 1787.

A modern constitutional convention would most assuredly play right into the hands of the enemies of limited government.

The last time legislators fell for the constitutional convention ploy was in 1987, and they came close to calling one. They fell short two states of the 34 required for two-thirds of the states.

To date, 28 states have voted in favor of such a convention. When another six states vote in favor, such a convention will be unavoidable. It is a nice irony that the far right—disguised as conservatives—can take credit for so fundamental and radical an upheaval.

Calls for Article V constitution conventions have been made before for various issues, and a new team of promoters of another convention, once more using a deceptive conservative cloak, have set in motion the great engine that will, if not averted soon, overthrow the very Constitution which they insist be so strictly constructed.

We dare not let it happen!

With today’s establishment media supporting social revolution, does anyone believe we have a more favorable climate for calling a convention? Or should we, too, as James Madison remarked in a letter in 1788 on the first constitutional convention, “tremble for the result of a second”?

For whatever reason, several prominent legislators such as Senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee have decided to support this organized plan to put our Constitution at risk. These conservative voices have sought to assure their followers that an Article V convention can be limited to single topics and that there is no danger of a runaway convention.

These legislators at the federal level, along with popular media idols and lobbyists at the state level, have influenced our state legislators apparently into being convinced that a constitutional convention will be controlled, limited and forced somehow to stick to these single topics.

This convention is unique to a free society. In our country, the people are sovereign. When the people appoint delegates to represent them in a constitutional convention, those delegates exercise their authority by virtue of powers inherent in the people. Such powers gave us our Constitution at the first convention held in Philadelphia in 1787.

What you and I can do is convince our Representative Derrin Owens to vote no on a resolution to call a constitutional convention. Then we can ask friends and relatives in other districts of Utah and in other states of the nation to talk to their respective legislators.

Joe Dow

Manti

Our state representative in District 58 is Derrin Owens.

Salt Lake office: (801) 538-1029, cell: 851-1284

email: derrinowens@le.utah.gov, mail: PO Box 127 Fountain Green, UT 84639